1.e4Not much to usually say about the very
first move (especially a normal one like 1. e4), but this white player very rarely plays 1. e4. This
move was entirely to sidestep any possible preparation by his opponent and enter his own.1...e52.Nf3Nc63.d4The
Scotch Game. Employed by no less than Kasparov on occasion, but it is much more frequently found at the
amateur levels and can lead to exciting and sharp games.3...exd44.c3White offers the Goring Gambit. To quote
Murrel, "Back in my day, everyone knew the lines to the Goring." It has mostly fallen out
of fashion at the amateur level and has rarely been seen at the highest level at any point in modern
chess. White can offer (and black can accept) one or two pawns for a very sharp position.4...dxc35.Bc4The other main move here is Nxc3. White
offers a 2nd pawn if black so desires with cxb2, but the developmental advantage of white can be difficult
to humanly defend against over the board against a peer. Of course, an engine would happily gobble the
material.5...d6d6 and Nf6
are the main moves here. Black prefers to prevent any potential e5 pushes before developing the knight
to f6. This does hem in Black's dark square bishop, of course.6.O-ONf67.Qb3"The Morphy move" as
Murrel calls it. If white has continued to delay recapture on c3, this is the most popular move in the
position. The immediate pressure on f7 and b7 can be somewhat awkward to handle for black while trying
to slowly develop and castle to safety. Qd7 is essentially forced.7...Qe7Black
needed to realize that between e7 and d7 (blocking in one bishop or the other), the light squared bishop
is already tied down to b7 and the dark squared bishop could more easily develop to e7 and allow the
king better safety after castling. Qd7 was the only good choice. Despite the material deficit, engines
already prefer white.My engine, Crafty, rated about 2700, valued Qd7 at
about a half pawn better than Qe7 (-.1 to +.4), so this was not a game losing move. - Murrel8.Nxc3White
now has to recapture to continue development of either his b1 knight or c1 bishop. White has regained
one pawn, and has therefore only gambited one. With the awkward queen on e7, white will have a much easier
game.8...Be6This unfortunate
blunder just makes things easy on white as it drops a piece.9.Qxb7Qxb7
or Bxe6 followed by Qxb7 both win a piece after forking the unprotected a8 rook and c6 knight.9...Rb810.Qxc6+Qd7Black
could have tried to be tricky with Bd7 in light of if Qxc7 Rc8, and black skewers the bishop on c4. White
saw this and wouldn't have fallen victim, but even still it would have chased the queen to a6 and kept
the queens on the board. Objectively engines say Qd7 is fine (or even better than Bd7), but black is
losing either way and trading your strongest piece when down a knight can only help your opponent breathe
easily.After Bd7, Crafty doesn't grab the c-pawn but rather wins the a-pawn
after Qa6. Rc8 is met by Bxf7+ & Qxa7 which Crafty says is better for Black than exchanging Queens by
a full pawn. - Murrel11.Qxd7+Kxd712.Bxe6+fxe613.e5e5 threatens to shatter Black's strong
pawn center or chase the black knight to a worse square13...Ne8The
knight enters exile with no immediate future.14.b3Simply
to continue development without giving back any material or counterplay.14...h6To
support g5-g4 and try and chase the f3 knight in time and offer the black bishop a future on the a1-h8
diagonal.15.Be3When it rains
it pours. Even simple developing moves come with tempo. Bf4 also looks strong if not even preferable,
but much liberty comes with being up a full piece.15...a616.Rfd1g517.exd6To
give the f3 knight a new home on e5.17...cxd618.Ne5+Kc719.Ng6Perhaps
trickier is Murrel's postmortem suggestion of Rac1 where black cannot happily recapture his long lost
knight in light of Rac1 dxe5?? Nb5+ Kb7 Nc7 Rxc7+ Ka8 Ra7#. However, the text is fine and winning is
winning. White is on autopilot with intent to trade down and end the game in the easiest way he saw without
calculating.19...Rg820.Nxf8Rxf821.Rac1e5Now
d6 falls too as all of White's pieces are coordinated and Black can only helplessly watch.22.Ne4+Kd723.Bc5Black
resigns as he is down a knight and soon to be more with inferior piece activity and king safety as well.

1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.d4exd4It
starts out as a Scotch4.Bb5An
unusual reply. Usual is Nxd4 going into the Scotch Game proper or Bc4 perhaps offering a Goring Gambit
after c3.4...Nf6Bc5 before
the Knight might be better here.5.e5Reminiscent
of the Max Lange, but the Bishop is missing from c4 for the d5 reply.5...Nd56.O-OBc5

1.c4Nf62.g3A
flexible but unusual variation. Allows for lots of transpositions. NOTE: Ron takes issue with my calling
2.g3 unusual and points out that he has 3 books, one is actually a 3 volume set, on the English which
recommend 2.g3. According to chess.com 2.g3 is the 4th most common move played here, being played in
over 7,000 games in their database, making these first 3 half-moves only slightly less common than 1.b3.
My point is that it does allow for many transpositions into the Kings Indian Attack, the Catalan and
other openings, as well as an English. However, Ron is right, playing this opening with g3 is not a bad
way to play. It is important to play with a plan knowing where your pieces are best placed.2...d53.cxd53.Nf3 & Bg2 are more common. Taking
the c4 pawn too early can give White a positional edge (See Pete Karagianis-Albert Li)3...Nxd54.Nc3g65.Bg2c6Assuming the rating difference is
real, this is not in Black's best interest. It could create symmetrical pawn structures which will make
it easier for White to draw in the ending. Nb6 or Nxc3 are usually played.6.Nf3Bg77.O-OO-O8.Qb3Nb69.Rb1This
move gets the White Rook off the long diagonal but there should be no urgency about that. Better is d3
preparing the activation of the Q-Bishop.9...N8d710.d4a511.a4c5This move only works if White captures
with dxc5. Drawbacks: makes the the White K-Bishop more powerful and it doesn't unwind Black's cramped
position. Believe it or not, Fritz prefers moving the d7-Knight back to b8 and reappearing on a6! I would
prefer moving that Knight to f6-d5.12.Bf4Giving
up a pawn for questionable development.12...cxd413.Nb5e5

[3...Nf6is more common. e6 Blocks Black's
Q-Bishop. Locally we see Bf5 more often (trying to put the Bishop out in front of the pawn chain before
closing it behind him), but it seems to be a poor choice in master play.]

1.e4c52.Nc3Nc63.f4g64.Nf3Bg75.Bc4e66.d3Also
common here are 0-0 and the gambit line f56...a67.a4a6 is usually answered with a4 to
prevent Black's b5. If Black omits a6, White will omit a4.7...Nge78.O-OO-O9.Qe1Nb4And we finally at original play.
Up to here play has followed one of the mainlines. d6 is usually played here and often in the preceding
move or two. Black is trying to take advantage of the displacement of the White Queen on e1.10.Bb3Qb611.Kh1

[Black is threatening a discovered check by pushing his c-pawn and win a Bishop. The
text is too passive just moving the King away and so misses a tactic. Correct is11.a5Qa712.Be3freezing
the pawn in place.]

[White misses15.Ne4Nxb316.cxb3Qxb317.Nxc5and White has some compensation
for his pawn. Active play is better than passive play as it puts pressure on the opponent. I also don't
like the text as it opens the long diagonal for c8-Bishop. This is a repeating theme in Grand Prix games
won by Black.]

[Black can of course take the b3-pawn but he already has his pawn and expects to win.
The text holds on to the advantage, but16...d5is
even better, eliminating the backward Black d-pawn and bringing the g7-Bishop to life.]

9...Rc810.O-ONg611.a3a512.Rb1Be713.Na4This
move seems very anti-positional. Placing a Knight on the rim is usually bad. It only works if the Knight
has important duty or is on the way to a better square. here this seems to be his new home.13...Qa7I
thought Qc7 was better with a tactical threat on c2, but there is nothing wrong with this move as it
keep an eye on the d4-pawn.14.Nc3Qb815.Bd3f6

[Is this move good? the engines don't hate it, but the Black King is still in the center
and this just opens the pawn structures.15...b5operating
on the Q-side seems to make more sense. Castling K-side is probably not a good idea as White has both
Bishops, a Knight and his Queen pointed that direction. So the Black King is safest in the center - as
long as it is closed.]

[While going over this game with Michael, he said he wanted to play17.Nh4putting
pressure on the g6-Knight. The move may seem silly at first, the h4-Knight would be unprotected and Black
could play17...Nxh4but
there follows18.Qh5+Ng619.Bxg6+and the Bishop is immune from
capture. Black's better choice would be to not take the "free" Knight.]

[Black wants to free his center pawn to advance and create winning opportunities.31...Kg7holds
onto the g6 square and is given a +2.5 by Fritz. The text allows White to enter on g6 and Black's advantage
disappears.]

18.Kc2f519.h4Qd7Heading
the wrong direction? With a pawn lever on the b-file, 2 Rooks able to slide to the Q-side & a dragon
Bishop, Black should play Qa5!20.Ne2e521.dxe6Qxe622.Qd5If the Knight were still on c3
this would be a good move. Here the new d5-pawn quickly becomes artificially isolated.22...Qxd523.cxd5f4One
of White's center pawns must fall.24.Kd3White
decides to hold on to the center pawn at the expense of the b-pawn.24...Bxb225.Nd2

[25.e4Rb1 fails to fxe6 which exposes
the White Knights to the Rooks.]

1.e4d52.exd5Nf6This
is the Portuguese variation. The older standard main line was 2...Qxd5, 3.Nc3 etc.3.d4Bg44.Be2Nf3
is normally played here, hoping that Black will surrender his Bishop pair early in the game.

24.Rhf1Qxb225.Ke1Qxc326.Rd2Qc127.Rd1Qc328.Rd2Qc1It
is much easier to find the moves relaxing at home while annotating. The fantastic pressure on the board
between the players should not be underestimated as a factor in the game. There are many difficult exchanges
to be calculated and kept straight.

[Black does not see the continuation and so agrees to a draw. Best is28...Nb229.Rxf5+the Bishop is lost in any
event29...Kg8sidestepping
the attack, Black still has a winning advantage.30.Nf3Qc1+31.Kf2Ke2
allows the a2-Knight back into the attack with tempo via Nc3+31...Nc3with
threats on the e4-pawn while whittling down White's attack.]

29.Rd1Qc3White
announced that he was intending to play Rd2 and the game was drawn by 3 fold repetition.

11.b4Bb612.Be3White should keep the Bishop
pair. A better continuation would be Re1 followed by Nd2-f1-g3-f5, a common plan in non-d4 Italian games
or the Ruy Lopez.12...g5Black
should trade off the b6-Bishop as it has no good squares left.13.Nd2Ke714.a5Ba7

[14...Bd4offers a trade of Bishops
without misplacing the Rook!15.cxd4exd4and
White must give back the Bishop]

1.c4Nf62.Nc3g63.Nf3Bg74.e4d65.d4After a move order dance we have
settled into a Kings Indian Defense.5...O-O6.Be2Nbd77.Be3Castles
is normal here for White.7...e58.d5Ng4This is the problem with Black's
7th. Which piece is misplaced? Black's twice moved Knight or White's e3-Bishop?9.O-OWhite
should not allow the capture of the e3-Bishop. The resulting e3-pawn would be a weakness that servers
as a target for Black. It is immobile and on the wrong color. Black has many ways to attack it - Bh6,
Nf6-g4, Qf6. In the mean time White's light colored Bishop has no good squares.9...f510.Bg5White gets another chance and
moves the Bishop to the correct square.10...Bf611.Bxf6Ndxf6Perhaps
the d-Knight was safer. This leaves the g-Knight open to attack by h3 and having to retreat to the ugly
h6 square.12.Nd2Nh5After
the game Alex admitted that this was a mistake, giving White a winning advantage.13.h3Ngf614.exf5Nf4The pawn is gone, no sense throwing
good after bad. Black finds the most active placement for his pieces.15.fxg6Nxe2+There is no need to make this
exchange. The Black Knight is well posted and the e2-Bishop has no better squares.16.Qxe2hxg617.Nce4Rather
than looking for the best move, White wants to trade down and win with a pawn advantage. While a sound
plan, the path that White walks on is very narrow and dropping a single pawn could move his game back
into drawish territory.

23.Rab1Rooks must have activity
in the endgame. Both Qxf4 & Rae1 were better.23...Rae824.Qxa7The Queen is offsides. The
game is on the King side and there is also a free pawn there. Qxf4 is correct.24...b625.Qa3White is not lost, no need
to panic. He just can't allow a Queen check from d4. Kh1 or even Rf2 works.25...Re326.b3Re2The
killer move. Threatens mate, the advance of the f-pawn and even Qd4+ - all at once. Any other move is
somewhat drawish.27.Rf2Rxf228.Kxf2Qd4+White
has no safe haven from the next Queen check that picks off the unprotected Rook.

8.Ne5Bh7If
the Bishop is captured on g6 it makes a big hole as the pawn is vulnerable to attack by White's Queen
and K-Bishop.9.Qf3Nf610.c3Nbd711.Bf4Nd512.Nxf7This piece sacrifice is unwarranted.
Many variations were tried in the post mortem and nothing seemed to give White hope.12...Kxf713.Bg5+

1.d4g62.Bf4Bg73.c3d64.e3Nc6Leaving
book. The line was moving toward the Kings Indian variation of the London system (ie, White plays a London
setup while Black plays a KID setup. As neither crosses the center line they are free to pursue their
own personal preferences.)Nd7 or Nf6 is normally played here. Nc6 is probably
a positional mistake as it limits the participation of Black's c-pawn which probably needs to be played
to c5 at some point.5.Nd2e56.Bg3Be67.Bb5Ne78.Ndf3e49.Ng5d5Black's
last 2 moves have only helped White who's g3-Bishop now has scope while Black's counter part on e3 has
been shut in. It also cements the opposition b2-d4 pawn chain against his g7-Bishop.10.Ne2Bd711.Nf4h612.Ngh3

[12.Bxc6is an option here. Black must
retake with the b-pawn (taking the Knight loses a piece to Bxd7+) or Nge6+ picks up a pawn after fxe6
Nxe6 Qc8 Nxg7+. Of course the Knight never gets out alive. The point here is not whether this move is
good but whether you calculated it.]